


Words Are Definitely Needed

by chibibinch



Category: SK8 the Infinity (Anime)
Genre: Best Friends, Confessions, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First Kiss, Forgiveness, Insecure Kyan Reki, Light Angst, M/M, Makeup, Mutual Pining, Pining, Slightly non-canon, tw adam mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-28 18:53:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30144018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chibibinch/pseuds/chibibinch
Summary: Langa just wants his friend back and Reki can't avoid him forever.
Relationships: Hasegawa Langa/Kyan Reki
Comments: 11
Kudos: 140





	Words Are Definitely Needed

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this after episode 7 and didn't wanna change the story to fit the subsequent episodes lmao. So that means Langa hasn't raced against Joe and his board isn't broken. I haven't written a fic in years so I hope y'all enjoy :)

_We’re not a good match anymore._

Langa replayed the words over and over again in his mind, causing his chest to tighten and stomach to knot up every time he remembered the conversation. How defeated Reki had looked, and how easily he was able to walk away from him, as though their friendship meant nothing. Even at school when they had to see each other, Reki looked straight through him like he wasn’t even there. He wasn’t prepared for how much it hurt, as though someone had stabbed him right through his chest and continued to twist the blade. After losing his dad, he couldn’t imagine being so dependent on another person and yet here he was, pining after Reki like he’d lost a part of himself. In a way, he kind of had. This is why he didn’t get close to people in the first place. One day they can just leave without warning and break your heart.

This was the longest the two of them had gone without talking since they had first met. Despite only meeting a few months ago, it felt as though they’d known each other for years. There was something about Reki’s carefree enthusiasm and warm smile that had consumed him from the beginning. Langa couldn’t bring himself to put a name on his feelings but he didn’t need to. It was obvious. Even his mother had picked up on it, although she didn’t know exactly who those feelings were directed towards. As he laid on his bed, he could only wonder how Reki was doing. Was he in as much pain as Langa was right now? Or had he already stopped caring?

* * *

Despite not even wanting to skate anymore, Reki had found himself drawn to the skatepark where he used to always practice with Langa. He sighed as he remembered the days when Langa was barely able to keep his balance on a board. Things were a lot simpler back then. Reki knew he had to break things off before he got even more attached. They’d always been on the same page, and yet Langa was so willing to break his promise to race against _him._ Just thinking about Adam’s made his blood boil. Instinctively, his fingers curled inwards and he dug his nails into his palms. He had always fed off Langa’s excitement for challenging others and pushing himself but this was taking it too far. He’d been going to ’S’ long enough to know that if you flew too close to the sun, you’ll inevitably get burnt. Adam wasn’t like any of the other skaters. Hurting people was a game for him. He’d experienced it for himself when Adam had held his head a mere inch from the ground as they raced at high speed, his lips pulled back in a menacing grin while Reki could only stare back in terror. He had never experienced fear as intense as that moment. He’d been lucky enough to avoid any serious injuries after Adam had made him crash and he couldn’t bear the thought of Langa going through the same thing, or worse. Who knows what would have happened if the cops hadn’t showed up and shut down their race? It was nauseating to think that the very thing that absolutely terrified him, could make Langa excited. Clearly they were two very different people.

His anger towards the whole situation was initially driven by protectiveness over his friend, but he couldn’t deny that his insecurities played a role too. It was so hard to deal with not feeling good enough for the one thing you truly care about. Reki lived and breathed skateboarding, and yet other skaters saw him as talentless and a mere shadow of his amazing friend “Snow”. Even Shadow and Miya had laughed about it. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t keep up. It was better to just walk away and let Langa do his own thing. It was evident that he’s only going to hold him back if he’s already at the point where he thinks he can take on the likes of Adam.

Reki’s heart sank as he heard the sound of wheels on concrete slowly approaching him from behind. He didn’t need to turn around to know who it was. It was inevitable that Langa would eventually find him. He knew him too well.

“Reki,” Langa said softly. “Please can we talk?”

Reki sighed but didn’t turn around. “I already told you we’re done. There’s nothing to say.”

“You know that’s not true,” Langa said, sitting down on the ground next to him. He paused, hoping Reki would at least look at him, but the red-haired boy carried on staring straight ahead of him. “Please?”

“You’re still gonna race against him, aren’t you?” Reki asked, turning to glare at him. “So why are you here?”

Langa swallowed hard under the intensity of Reki’s glare. He hated seeing Reki look at him like that. The feeling of betrayal was displayed clearly on his face and Langa couldn’t help but feel guilty. Hurting him was the last thing he had wanted to do. “Because I miss you. I know I’m breaking our promise and I’m sorry but I can’t deal with us not being friends anymore.” 

Reki almost rolled his eyes in response. Of course Langa still wanted to go ahead with that stupid race. “What’s the point in saying sorry if you’re still gonna go ahead and do it?”

Langa kept quiet. It was true, the word ‘sorry’ could only do so much.

“When you said you wanted to go against Adam, even after everything he’s done, it broke me,” Reki said, his stomach churning at the memory of literally having his life in Adam’s hands. “He plays with people like they’re disposable. He’s sickening. If something happened to you, I don’t know what I’d do.”

He was still haunted by what Joe had said to them about Adam and the way he skates. Even some of the most dedicated skaters never came back to ’S’ after Adam had finished with them. It was unlike anything he had ever seen. He’d already lost one friend after a skating injury and couldn’t bear the thought of history repeating itself.

“I’m not gonna quit skating if get hurt, Reki,” Langa said in an attempt to reassure him, but it only upset him further.

“You don’t understand!” Reki yelled, fighting back the tears that were burning in the back of his throat. “There are injuries that you just can’t bounce back from. You’re not fucking invincible, Langa. I can’t watch you put yourself through that.”

Langa flinched at his words. It was rare for Reki to curse at him, especially with that much venom behind it. Seeing him that way shook Langa to the core. It was such a sharp contrast to the light-hearted, energetic boy he’d come to know. Reki looked visibly deflated after his outburst, clearly defeated by the whole thing. It was clear to him that this was an issue they were never going to see eye-to-eye on.

“I don’t want us to keep fighting, Reki,” Langa sighed as his friend continued to stare at the floor, hunched over with his arms wrapped around his knees. His voice wavered slightly as he prepared himself for what he had to say. “I know I’m not invincible and I know what it’s like to lose someone you’re close to. But the thought of something happening and you still being mad at me is terrifying. I don’t want it to be too late.”

Reki was stunned. He knew Langa was referring to his father’s sudden passing. Although he had never gone into the details of what happened or how he felt , Reki knew how badly it had affected him. Langa hadn’t even wanted to snowboard anymore after he lost his father. He’d been a shell of his former self. Even though he’d gone through such a devastating loss, he still wanted to go ahead and race against Adam. Regardless of Reki’s fears, it was clearly important to him.

“I don’t wanna hold you back,” Reki said quietly, acutely aware of how much Langa had opened up to him in that moment. He tugged on the sleeves of his hoodie, desperate for a distraction from the tension between them. “I’ve heard the way people talk about you, y’know? You’re amazing and I’m just some lowlife that hangs out with you apparently…I can’t keep up with you. You deserve someone better.”

“How can you even say that?” Langa asked, raising his voice. His sudden change in tone made Reki look up at him in surprise. His usual calm exterior was replaced with frustration. “I wouldn’t have friends here if it wasn’t for you. I wouldn’t even be skating if it wasn’t for you.”

“Yeah, but now look at you. You’re miles further than I ever could be and everyone knows it,” said Reki.

“So you’re gonna let other people’s opinions decide on whether we should be friends anymore?” Langa asked. “Why do they even matter? It’s just me and you.

“I wish you could see yourself through my eyes because you’re the amazing one,” he continued. “No one at ’S’ works as hard as you or even has half the amount of passion that you do. Be honest, do you think anyone there would have had the patience to teach me how to skate? Bearing in mind I couldn’t even stand on a board without falling flat on my ass.”

“Okay true, you did fall a _lot_ ,” Reki chuckled whilst trying to ignore how his heart twisted after Langa called him amazing. Did he really mean that?

“And don’t even get me started on how talented you are at building boards,” Langa said. “The level of care you put into crafting boards for other people is unmatched.You didn’t even have a clue about snowboarding when we first met yet you took the time to research it and figure out how to help me. I don’t know anyone with that kind of selflessness.

“You didn’t just teach me how to skate. You created a board just for me so that I wouldn’t be completely out of my depth. So that _I_ could keep up with _you._ I don’t think you realise how much that means to me, Reki.”

“I-uh...” Reki trailed off, unable to form a comprehensible sentence. He never realised that’s how Langa felt about him. This whole time he had been so focused on everyone else’s opinions of him, yet he never considered how much Langa looks up to him.

“You’re the reason why I fell in love with skating in the first place. It’s meaningless if I can’t do it with you.”

Upon hearing those words, Reki let out a breath he hadn’t realised he was holding, the weight of Langa’s words crashing around him. Without stopping to think, Reki flung himself at Langa and buried his face in his chest. As he felt Langa’s arms wrap around his waist and pull him in even closer, Reki finally allowed the tears that had been welling up to spill over. Not being able to talk to him or hug him this whole time had been agonising.

“I’m sorry,” they said in unison, before laughing softly. Regardless of what had happened between them, they were still in sync.

Langa gently rocked him and let him cry, running his fingers through his hair as he soothed him. “I mean it. I should have realised how you were feeling. I’m so sorry I hurt you.”

“I mean it too”, said Reki, his voice slightly muffled against Langa’s shirt. He pulled his face back ever so slightly so that his words weren’t obstructed. “I was upset because I was scared. Scared you would get hurt or you’d leave me behind and I’d lose you, but in the process all I did was push you away and hurt you even more.”

Langa quietly shushed him before tightening their embrace. “I’m not going anywhere, okay?”, he whispered softly. “I need you as much as you need me. I’m still not used to being close to someone and I don’t always know the right thing to do or say, but I need you to know that you’ve got me, okay?”

He felt Reki nod against his chest and smiled softly, trailing his fingers upwards to play with the hair at the nape of Reki’s neck. As if by reflex, Reki let out a sigh and nuzzled against his chest, finally feeling at peace for the first time in what felt like weeks . He’d never had a friend like Langa. Someone who was this patient with his fixations and outbursts. Someone he could share his passion with. Truthfully, he wasn’t even sure if he could call this friendship anymore. It ran much deeper than that, if the pounding in his chest was any indicator. But he’d never been truly honest with himself about how he felt.

His tears had subsided and he wiped his face with his sleeve. When he could finally bring himself to look up at Langa, it felt as though time had come to a grinding halt. The intensity in those sharp, blue eyes was something he could never get used to. Something about the way Langa looked at him made his breath catch in his throat. He wondered if Langa knew how truly beautiful he is. Maybe it was the intimacy of the moment that finally gave him the courage, or maybe he just was tired of wasting time when he finally spoke up and said, “I don’t know if I can handle being friends.”

The pain that flashed across Langa’s face before he settled on a neutral expression, indicated that he misunderstood Reki’s words. “Oh,” he said with disappointment.

“I want more. I need more,” Reki explained. “You’re so much more than a friend to me. I knew from the moment we met that you’re someone special, but I wasn’t prepared for how much you’d take over my life. I can’t even think about skating without thinking of you. I know it’s gonna sound stupid but in a way, I don’t feel complete without you.”

Langa stared back at him, lips slightly parted, shocked that Reki had been the one to finally say it. He’d been harbouring these feelings for so long that he wasn’t prepared to hear that they were mutual. “You felt it too?”

 _Too._ That one simple word was enough to put a wide grin on Reki’s face.

“Of course I did,” he replied, never breaking his gaze from Langa.

Langa lowered his head until their foreheads were pressed against each other, his hand gently cupping Reki’s cheek. He smiled as he felt Reki press into his touch and finally leaned in to close the gap between them. Their eyes fluttered shut as their lips touched. _Their first kiss_. Langa’s brain was practically screaming as he registered what was happening. It was actually happening. He was finally able to kiss the boy he’d fallen in love with. Something he’d only dared to fantasise about in the darkness of his bedroom before he went to sleep. Reki worked his hand up to the back of Langa’s head, gently tangling his fingers through the soft, blue locks, his other hand resting on the back of his neck. The way Langa’s soft lips caressed his was enough to make his head spin. Reki’s breath tickled against Langa’s skin as they deepened their kiss. Langa tugged on his hoodie to pull him in even closer and giggled as he heard a gasp in response. If only Reki knew how cute he is.

They eventually broke apart, breathing shakily from the excitement, before Langa continued planting kisses along his neck.

“Mine,” was all he said, over and over. Reki felt heat spread across his cheeks and neck as he blushed heavily and felt himself getting flustered.

“Langa!”

He continued tickling him with gentle kisses before landing on his lips once more.

“Mine,” he said again, as Reki looked on in disbelief, his eyes wide open. Where did that come from? Did Langa have any idea of what he was doing to his heart? He was almost certain that if it didn’t slow down he would pass out. Langa simply flashed one his soft smiles at him before turning around to where he had left his skateboard. Reki appeared to have lost the ability to move as he watched Langa carry on as if nothing had happened.

“What?” Langa asked him, slightly confused as to why he was staring at him like that. “It’s getting late. We should get going.”

Reki just shook his head and finally picked up his own board, quietly laughing to himself. “You are unbelievable, you know that?”

“I hope that’s a good thing.”

“It’s a very good thing,” he replied, humming with contentment as he looked at the boy who stole his heart.

**Author's Note:**

> episode 10 better give us some good fucking food. that's all I'm gonna say


End file.
